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Original poster

Gary McKinnon

30 replies

ThatVikRinA22 · 26/11/2009 22:10

i am practically shouting at the telly, watching the news - please please please someone stop this - Alan Johnson you are a fuckwit and this will stop me voting labour.

how can they do this? why are they so hell bent on extraditing him to the US, despite knowing he has aspergers, despite knowing he is suicidal.

The americans should be thanking him for exposing glaring holes in their "security"

my DS has aspergers. he is a computer whizz. he says there is info all over the net on how to hack so called secure systems. even he says better Gary hacking in than a spy.

how can we stop this?

OP posts:
nancy75 · 26/11/2009 22:13

america do't want him they just want to flex their muscles, while our govt just want to kiss obamas arse

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 26/11/2009 22:21

why was i not around for the PMs web chat...

this is pissing me off bigtime

OP posts:
Miserabella · 26/11/2009 22:23

frankly, and this isn't going to make me popular, I think he should be extradited. He hacked into government systems, it's an extremely serious crime. He's an articulate and lucid person based on the interviews I've seen reported. The U.S. government should have the opportunity to question him.

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 26/11/2009 22:57

he has aspergers ffs. he was looking for proof that aliens exist. it was hardly the crime of the century and it exposed the holes in their system before a REAL hacker got in.

OP posts:
BadgersPaws · 27/11/2009 09:28

"he has aspergers ffs. he was looking for proof that aliens exist. it was hardly the crime of the century and it exposed the holes in their system before a REAL hacker got in."

If you found that someone was regularly breaking into your house and rifling through your possessions to see if you were an alien would you be think that he should escape prosecution? What if he also left a threatening letter behind? Would you be thankful for him exposing the holes in your household security, but only after being caught, that a REAL burglar might exploit?

There are genuine "white hat" hackers who do go looking for weaknesses and then let the owners of the system know what they've discovered, that's not what Mr McKinnon is.

So yes I believe he's guilty and should be called to account for what he did.

However that doesn't mean that I agree with his extradition under an unfair and one sided treaty to the US or with how our Government and the US prosecutors have been handling the issue.

ilovemydogandmrobama · 27/11/2009 09:31

I thought the government was giving them time to prepare a case to go to the court in Strasbourg based on new medical evidence?

wannaBe · 27/11/2009 09:39

So what if he didn't have aspergers? Would people still think that he shouldn't be extradited then?

kreecherlivesupstairs · 27/11/2009 13:13

I am so agreeing with those that think that having Aspergers doesn't absolve him of the crime.

pagwatch · 27/11/2009 13:20

What difference does his guilt make? He isn't asking to be absolved of the crime.He is asking to be tried in the UK.

Given that aspergers will make change and unfamiliar surroundings incredibly difficult and there seems to be evidence that he is suicidal, I am not sure why we wish to kiss Americas ass comply with their unreasonable extradition demands without making any attempt to protect the well being of a vulnerable British citizen.

People with aspergers are perfectly capeable of sounding articulate and reasonable. That does not make them any more able to resist their compulsions.

But this discussion always makes people want to expound their own theories, usually with no more knowledge that their mum once knowing a bloke who may have had aspergers a bit, and decide that people with aspergers have no difficulties at all

posieparker · 27/11/2009 13:25

Can the US give him a fair trial, I doubt it. Would they extradite an American if the situation were reversed? NO. Will he be adversely affected by the extradition? Yes. Moreso than someone without asperges? Yes. Funny how British people can't claim asylum in their own country.

It's a fucking disgrace.

PrincessFiorimonde · 27/11/2009 13:33

What Pagwatch said.

TheCrackFox · 27/11/2009 13:38

What Pagwatch and PosieParker said.

Labour are so far up the Yanks arses they must have given them hemmarhoids.

He should be tried in the UK.

ArthurPewty · 27/11/2009 13:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

pofacedandproud · 27/11/2009 13:44

breaking into a locked home is not an adequate equation. Breaking into a home where the door is wide open is a more adequate analogy. They should be grateful to him, they didn't even have passwords in place it seems, it could have been a dangerous terrorist organisation which had taken advantage, not a geeky bloke with aspergers. He should be tried in the UK, particularly as he could be in prison for life if he is extradited. The US would not turn a prisoner over to us, but demands of the rest of the world that we turn people over to them. This poor man.

BadgersPaws · 27/11/2009 14:09

"Breaking into a home where the door is wide open is a more adequate analogy. They should be grateful to him"

Again I ask if you had left your front door open and a stranger strolled in through it, searched through your things and left a threatening note would you be grateful?

I think not.

Had someone realised your front door was open, loudly knocked to see if anyone was home and then shut it for you leaving a note explaining what he had done then perhaps you might be grateful.

That is not what Gary McKinnon did.

His guilt is really not in any doubt.

The questions are about our unfair extradition treaties and the likelihood of a fair trial given the activities of the prosecution and Gary's mental state.

MaryBS · 27/11/2009 14:13

BadgersPaws, if I knew he had Aspergers and that he was looking for aliens in my house (other than DH), I wouldn't want him prosecuted.

FREE GARY MCKINNON!

TheCrackFox · 27/11/2009 14:17

If I left my front door wide open and somebody had a mooch about it would probably end up with him having to serve 100 hours of community service.

Not the, quite frankly, terrifying sentence he could end up with in America.

FREE GARY MCKINNON!

twolittlemonkeys · 27/11/2009 14:20

I agree with Pagwatch and Posieparker. Why don't they just put his skills to good use working for them?

BadgersPaws · 27/11/2009 14:23

"BadgersPaws, if I knew he had Aspergers and that he was looking for aliens in my house (other than DH), I wouldn't want him prosecuted."

OK but then that's not because you're grateful but presumably because you're not sure whether the Aspergers means that he's not liable for his actions.

What if he had threatened you? Which would indicate something above and beyond just curiousity.

MaryBS · 27/11/2009 14:27

Actually no, I know quite a lot about Aspergers - I have Aspergers and so does my son.

As for whether he had threatened me - that would depend on the nature of the threat and how much danger I was actually in. If I were convinced he were not a danger to the public, I would STILL not want him prosecuted (although that would be harder to believe, because of the threats).

Do you seriously believe he is a danger and should be locked up then?

BadgersPaws · 27/11/2009 14:40

"Do you seriously believe he is a danger and should be locked up then?"

I'm not sure that I do, though I do believe that he needs to be "legally" punished (as if dragging this whole thing out for so long isn't really punishment enough but that's not how the law works).

What I do believe though is that he is guilty, as he himself admits, and that he shouldn't be getting any gratitude from the victims of his crime.

The focus of this debate has got to shift from that and on to the fair trial and extradition issue.

MaryBS · 27/11/2009 14:51

The reason I think he should be freed is not because he is innocent, but that he will not receive a fair trial in the US. I (knowing what I do about the condition), do not believe he even considered the consequences of his actions, and simply got in too deep. Whilst I would never do what he did, I can understand why he did it, and it was not with malice aforethought. That, together with his mental state, should be enough to prevent his extradition, and to be tried in this country, but apparently it isn't.

FREE GARY MCKINNON!

BadgersPaws · 27/11/2009 15:08

"do not believe he even considered the consequences of his actions, and simply got in too deep"

He did leave the message saying "US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days? It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand-down on September 11 last year...I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels."

That to me makes it reasonably clear that what was going through his mind wasn't just curiosity but something a bit more involved.

Even with that aside though I still think that there are enough questions about both the conduct of this case and the extradition treaty that make it far from obvious that he should be sent to the US.

MaryBS · 27/11/2009 15:17

I never said it was curiosity. I never said he didn't do what he did, just that, in SPITE of what you quoted, I believe that he didn't consider his actions.

However, as far as I can see, we are in agreement that he shouldn't be extradited?

bumpsoon · 27/11/2009 16:59

Whether or not he gets extradited ,why does everyone think the rules are different for the US , i thought they had to present a case for extradition just as we do ,although technically under a different name .

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